<p>Does anyone know when Design Intelligence comes out with the 2009 architecture school rankings?</p>
<p>I got the latest one from their website…</p>
<p>50 buck I wont ever see again…</p>
<p>I am applying to Syracuse b.arch- ed now and quite frankly the book ist a great help
it doesn’t break down the schools adequately and most of the book is dedicated to teaching methods and new architecture ideals which seem almost impartial and unrelated to finding “that college”. it didn’t really help me get a better feel of any cirtain program and the one major upset- V tech was not talked about at all. my suggestion is you go to the colleges and find what you care about most in a college and apply to who ever fill the mold.</p>
<p>i got most of my inspiration from interning at a good firm and pooling to see where i should go.</p>
<p>to each their own of course…</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>Elistuy: The book you bought is not the architecture school rankings. Info on architecture schools: The ACSA Guide To Architecture Schools. My son is applying to architecture schools and the guide was a great help. My son applied to USC, Penn State, Syracuse, and U of Cincinnati. His choices are in that order. We visited all four schools. He just got his acceptance letter for Penn State.</p>
<p>msheft…congrats to your son on PSU!!!</p>
<p>wow… i didnt even know that book existed, wish i saw it 2mo. ago </p>
<p>o well, still di is the listing all the architecture schools use and site. that is how i came across it. they provide a list of the top 20 architecture schools in the nation listed by its reputation among architecture firms and some other criteria- it wasn’t a great book but a listing of the best none the less (and the one all the colleges use to site their aptitude).</p>
<p>good luck to your son</p>
<p>elistuy</p>
<p>it has the rankings… do you know where i might find other rankings aside from socarch </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Ooooo msheftson, one of only 60 or so if I remember correctly. Congrats.</p>
<p>I loved the look and feel of the arch building at PSU, but couldn’t manage the background noise (my bad hearing, no one else seemed to be bothered by it.)</p>
<p>Some links you may find useful in your quest Elistuy;</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.acsa-arch.org/students/selectingaschool.aspx[/url]”>https://www.acsa-arch.org/students/selectingaschool.aspx</a></p>
<p><a href=“https://www.acsa-arch.org/students/programs.aspx[/url]”>https://www.acsa-arch.org/students/programs.aspx</a></p>
<p>[ACSA</a> 3.0: SEARCH](<a href=“http://www.acsa-arch.org/guide_search/home.aspx]ACSA”>http://www.acsa-arch.org/guide_search/home.aspx)</p>
<p>[NAAB:</a> Schools Database](<a href=“http://www.naab.org/schools/search.aspx?searchType=A]NAAB:”>http://www.naab.org/schools/search.aspx?searchType=A)</p>
<p>hey thanks again 4trees!</p>
<p>-i saw this stuff from msheft though- it seems there is very little actual comparing of the colleges- its hard to tell from just some blurbs. </p>
<p>oh but thanks again for the last link, i have been meaning to check it out…</p>
<p>My son talked to an architect who has his own firm about architecture schools. My son gave him a list of 11 schools he was interested in. The architect told him which he thought were good, very good, excellent. He also told him which ones emphasized theoretical versus practical, which ones were more technically oriented, etc. From that I son reduced his choices down to 4 schools. I must admit, my son did an excellent job in his selections. He chose one very large school (PSU), two medium size schools (USC, U fo Cincinnati), and a smaller school (Syracuse). These choices also ended up in a very large city and west coast (USC), medium size city and midwest (U of Cincinnati), medium to smaller city and east coast (Syracuse) and one in the middle of nowhere (PSU).</p>
<p>He also eliminated programs that were 4+2 (U of Cincinnati being an exception because of its coop program).</p>
<p>FYI: we live in the Chicago area. IIT wasn’t appealing, U of I-Champaign and U of I-Chicago were not appealing (also 4+2 programs).</p>
<p>Kansas was a possibility for the 5-year MArch but he decided it was in the middle of nowhere and not close to any major metropolitan area (KC he considered too small).</p>
<p>His first choice is still USC. Financial aid packages will have some say in the final decision.</p>
<p>hey msheft, when you were looking at schools how would you compare syracuse and vtech? as far as facilities and class size…</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Elistuy: Vtech never made my sons top 11, so I cannot comment on the comparison. It didn’t get that far. You can go to both websites and look at the courses for the programs to see which you prefer. When he visited USC, he loved the place and the program. After our visits to Syracuse, PSU, and Cincinnati, he made PSU his 2nd choice–he was impressed with the campus and the program. While he liked Syracuse’s program and the campus, he came away with the impression the Architecture program had a somewhat elitist attitude. The result was PSU his 2nd choice and Syracuse his 3rd choice. He wasn’t sure about Cincinnati but after the visit he was impressed enough to keep it his 4th choice.</p>
<p>My son’s initial top 11: USC, Syracuse, Penn St, U of Cincinnati, Cal Poly SLO, Kansas, U of Ill, RSID, Cal-Berkley, Pratt, Iowa St, </p>
<p>Schools that were cut from the list: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, U of Oregon, U of Texas-Austin, VTech.</p>
<p>thanks,</p>
<p>if you could how would you describe the difference between usc and syracuse… what sort of program is usc… i visited Syracuse and never really learned about usc,- is there any thing in particular, also what was behind your psu decision?
thanks again, this is really helping!</p>
<p>I haven’t been as lucky as the rest of you to visit campuses so I’ve based my application decisions solely on what I see and read on the web. Of those you have mentioned I’m applying to IIT, UIUC and USC; do you mind telling me what you and your son thought were good/bad about those respective schools?</p>
<p>Spongebodge:</p>
<p>My son really didn’t look at UIUC because: it is a 4+2 program and it is far from Chicago. It is also expensive for in-state students ($26,000+). We live in the Chicago area. An out of state school like Penn State is about $5,000 - $10,000 more. Kansas is $30,000 for out of state (5 year vs 6 year ends up being the same cost). </p>
<p>IIT: Too close to home, the style they emphasize is Mies van der Rohe. My son isn’t that thrilled with their style. The campus was designed by Mies van der Rohe. </p>
<p>USC: I will have to ask him. I didn’t visit the campus with him. He was visiting my sister in Phoenix several summers ago and she drove him to LA to see the campus. The big advantage: it is in LA–size of city, I think Frank Gehry is from there (my son likes his style).</p>
<p>He did print out the curriculum for each school and did a comparison. While all his choices had similar course content, he was able to look at the course plans for each year and decide what he liked.</p>
<p>msheft:</p>
<p>May I ask why Carnegie and Cornell were cut from your son’s list?
(not to be nosey)
I was just wondering what his motives were.</p>
<p>I applied to Cornell (regular desicion)</p>
<p>and Carnegie was cut from my list as well.</p>
<p>What are his opinions on Syracuse and Pratt?</p>
<p>I applied to Pratt Early action and got in (currently it is my top choice alongside with Cornell, providing I am granted acceptance)</p>
<p>Any information or opinions your son has regarding the schools would be of much help and taken into great consideration.</p>
<p>12XU: Originally, as a freshman in high school, he was very interested in Cornell. But then the more he learned about other schools, locations, and what he really wanted out of his college experience, where he thought he would be comfortable at, he ended up eliminating Carnegie and Cornell. I think Cornell was mainly eliminated due to its being Ivy League (though it is less Ivy League than the other Ivy League schools). I am not sure why Carnegie didn’t make his top 11. I didn’t ask him why he eliminated the schools he did. I can only guess why he eliminated Pratt–he wanted a college with the breadth of programs (majors), activities, diversity, etc that a small school like Pratt would not have. I personally do not think my son would enjoy a small college environment. That I think is why RSID was eliminated. NYC would fit him but Pratt would not. He found Syracuse’s program having an “elitist” attitude but he liked the curriculum and the new building for architecture. </p>
<p>Since you are from upstate NY, you may have a different perspective of the schools, especially Cornell. We are in the Chicago area.</p>
<p>spongebodge,</p>
<p>My daughter is a senior at UIUC. My impressions are that the program is technically sound and some faculty members are terrific while others are just fair - as I’d expect just about anywhere. Also, some TA’s are more effective than others. The school is definitely making attempts to improve continuity from year to year. I suspect she really belonged at a smaller college, but at the time, the Big Ten experience was very appealing. The Versailles Program for junior year is considered the best study abroad program for arch schools. It was an amazing experience with terrific faculty and training. Interestingly, she didn’t look at UIC for undergrad, but has included it in her grad school list. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in 3 programs so close to each other, I’ll suggest that you visit.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have more questions.</p>
<p>When I ran into this blog it reminded of my sons choices two years ago in architecture. My son is at Penn State’s architecture program after a long process of deciding. We are very happy with his choice.He also looked at and applied to the many listed. It came down to Virginia Tech and Penn State. The building at Penn State had a lot to do with it. It’s beautiful and the architecture students spend endless hours there which ever school they decide on. Syracuse and Cornell were three and four. Any questions feel free to ask.Penn State’s campus if great also.</p>
<p>Could I ask you a question? In my list have 6 universities, Carnegie , Rensselaer , Syracuse, Austin, VT, IIT . Can you give me a rank in your mind about this 6 schools. Thanks</p>